


Paint It Black

by JoeMcSqueezy



Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/F, Pearlina Week (Splatoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:14:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24900658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoeMcSqueezy/pseuds/JoeMcSqueezy
Summary: Death is something that comes to everyone eventually. It's just tragic that death was unlucky enough to grace this individual, causing grief to her close lover. Sometimes, in terms of life, You can't get no SatisfactionT/W for Gore, Death, Slurs, and ANGST...with a good(?) ending
Relationships: Marina/Pearl (Splatoon)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	Paint It Black

4:55am - January 1st, 2016 AH (After Humans)  
Up and coming rockstar Pearl and shy, closeted(?) Octoling Marina seeminglky had both decided, that on New Years Day of all days, neither could sleep. So Pearl, in all her divine wisdom, decided to sneak out of the house, onto her and Marina's usual meeting spot on the rocky edge of Mt Nantai, where the luschious Green Grass ended, and jagged, rocky surfaces began. Pearl was lucky to see Marina, was in fact, awake, sitting on the rock the two shared when meeting, actually awake at this time of day  
"Yo!" Pearl greeted the Octoling, causing the innocent Octo to jump, a small yelp travelling out of her mouth, and her fingers and tentacles growing teal, as she turned back to witness Pearl's toothy grin, something that was beginning to grow on her  
"Oh...Greetings, Pear-rl" Marina stuttered out  
"Hey, you're getting pretty good at this Inklish thing. Give it a bit more, and it'll be easy breezy, trust me. Still dunno what kinda stuff you speak where you come from, though..."  
"Ah, I understaynd. Many Thinks, Pearrrrl"  
"No problem. So, you can't sleep either"  
"It seems I cannot. This Inkling tradutchion you call 'Newt Years' is quite exciticing"  
"Eh, it's ok, I guess. The parties are real loud, though it still forces me to hang out with my dear old dad"  
"I would like to meet your father soomday, Pearl"  
"Yeah, no you don't. Dude's an asshat"  
"Asshayt...what kind of word is that?"  
"You'll uh, learn later on"  
Marina hummed in agreement, Pearl walking around. However, just as Pearl stepped close to the edge, the ground beneath her fott sooned collapsed below her, causing the Inkling to lose her balance and begin falling, only for Marina to grab onto her with both hands, her claws digging into Pearl's wrist, holding her steady for a few seconds as both looked at each others eyes  
"...Pearl, are you oukay?...OH, MY APOPOLOGIES"  
Marina quickly pulled Pearl onto secure land, Pearl panting and holding her knees, as Marina looked at her with a concerned face  
"Mar...what ya apologising for, ya saved me?"  
"My apologiise, I should've pulled you up immediatelyely"  
"Wait a sec, right then...You just pronounced my name right. You said Pearl"  
As Pearl stood up, Marina's face gleamed with excitement  
"Rally? Oh Pearl, this trooly is a new yiir" Marina exclaimed as she swept Pearl into a bear hug, something Pearl was uncomfortable with at first, but eventually just embraced. As Marina began to let go, however, they noticed something at a distance. It was 5:00am, due time for the sun to come up on a new Inkopolis morning, and a new year. Pearl and Marina both gave each other a warm smile, as Marina unconciously slipped her hand into Pearls once again.  
—————————————  
23:59 - December 31st, 2020  
It was a dark day. Grey, lifeless clouds spread across the skies of that afternoon. While others were busy playing games, spending time with loved ones, and simply enjoying the time that they had on this world. The same could not be said for one Pearl Houzuki. One half of the former Pop Group Off the Hook. She stood on the top of the mountainous cliff, almost 100 feet above the ground below. In her hand, a pocketwatch, all but broken. To anyone else it would be nothing but a piece of junk to throw out and to replace. But to Pearl  
It was all she had left of her  
—————————————  
One Year Earlier  
A chilling night, one that would prove to be the end of many things. Firstly, it was the end of Pearl and Marina's 3rd Tour, promoting their new album "Expansion". The single, "Into the Light" was one of the duo's biggest hits, and they ended the show off with it. But not before something huge: The Inkling and Octoling officially announced to the world that they were, what some would call, an "item"  
It was about 2 hours after that said concert had ended. The now announced lovers, instead of taking the tour bus with the other musicians back home, wanted some time to themselves, after the absolute rollercoaster they found themselves on with this tour, so they opted to drive back themselves. Inkopolis wasn't an extremely long distance, so it wasn't much of an issue  
While Marina kept concentrated eyes on the dark road, and a firm grip on the steering wheel, Pearly limply sat next to her, exhausted after a long few months. She flicked the screen of her phone through Squitter, many posts already surfacing about the "Stans" proclaiming hallelujah at the confirmation. Pearl's phone, and the headlights of Marina's personal car, were the only light to be seen for miles on the rocky terrain they found themselves on, a necessity to get to Inkopolis someway  
Pearl redirected her vision to Marina, and she noticed something: Marina's eyes, while usually being a void that Pearl found herself lost in by it's absolute beauty, had lost it's usual warm presence. The life in them had all just faded away, where it went, Pearl was unsure, but she knew Marina couldn't continue any further. She had been powering on for 2 hours now, and it wasn't good for her health to be doing it at this time of night  
When Marina went to shift gears on the car, Pearl laid her small palm onto Marina's swarthy hand, causing Marina to give a weird look, and look towards Pearl's face  
"Hey...we should take a break"  
"Hm? Why?"  
"I'm just..worried that you may not have the juice to do this right now, 'rina, ya know?"  
"Aww, that's so sweet, Pearlie. Well, if we can, sure..."  
Parking near the side of the mountain, Pearl and Marina sat in the car, hand in hand, sinking into their seats as to relax a little bit. Marina started to sway off onto the side, her hand slowly being tugged out of Pearl's. The small cephalopod used this time to rest her eyes, but once this started to happen, her eyes shot open and 1 or 2 drops of sweat began to slide down her face.  
"Uhh Pearlie, are you okay?"  
Coming back to reality, Pearl looked to her side, to see Marina giving her a look, half concerned, half confused. She looked down to see Pearl was squeezing tightly onto the tips of Marina's long claws. Immediately, she let go  
"S-S-Sorry, force 'a habit..."  
"How come?"  
"I-I-It's nuthin, just a weird thing, is all. Guess I just like holding your hand, hehehe..."  
Marina didn't believe it for a second upon taking a glance at Pearl's face  
"Pearlie, are you lying to me?"  
"What? Nah, why would I-"  
"Pearl, you're blinking a lot. You do that when you lie. I've known you for five years now and we've been in a relationship for months now. What's up?"  
Pearl let out a sigh, some tears gathering in her eyes, she turned to face Marina  
"Ok so, ya know when I told you about that boy who took me to Blackbelly Skatepark?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Well, turns out he brought me there to confess to me. Turns out, he had a crush on me. I told him about me liking girls, but also said that we could still be friends. We hung out there for a few hours after that. One time, we were sitting on top of the big podium in the centre, and while trying to stand up from the e-e-edgge...."  
Pearl's voice began to get more jittery as tears stream down her face. Marina wrapped one of her tentacles around Pearl's waist, rubbing her thumb across Pearl's hand  
"It's ok, it's ok, Pearlie. You don't have to tell me the rest if you don't wanna"  
Pearl wiped the tears across her face with her sleeve, and began breathing  
"N-Nah, i'll be a-aight...anyway, he s-slipped, and I grabbed his hand. But I...I...I couldn't hold on. He slipped through my fingers, and fell. He was in the hospital for a month after, and I never f-forgave myself..."  
Marina couldn't think of how to properly respond to something like that. She just acted, giving Pearl a bear hug out of instinct. She could feel Pearl's tears stream down her vest, and began stroking her head  
"sshhh, it's okay Pearlie, i'm here to help you"  
"Th-Thanks 'Rina...you're the best"  
"Just doin my job, ya know?"  
They just sat there. Pearl in Marina's arms, enjoying each other's embrace for a bit. Once exiting out, Pearl seemed to have calmed down. And Marina had an idea.  
"Hey Pearl...Can I give you something"  
"Huh? uhh...sure"  
"K then. Close your eyes, and hold out your hand"  
"What the? what are you-"  
"Please?"  
Pearl couldn't say no to that voice. Her mask's eyeholes regained their darkness as Pearl shut her eyelids, holding her palm up. She didn't feel anythingtouch her palm, however. Instead, She felt rust coming from the top of her chest, and a strange noise accompanied it. Marina had put something around Pearl's neck  
"K. Open them up, Pearlie"  
Around Pearl's neck was an old pocketwatch. It's rust concealed most of the metal underneat, with a clock that was somehow still ticking  
"What's up? How come you're givin me this old watch thing?" Pearl exclaimed as she began to observe the watch by holding it in her palm  
"Well...Just like your little habit has a story, so does this..."  
"Wait, Mar, you don't have to do this. You don't owe me anything like this"  
"What are you talking about, Pearlie? You saved my life that day we met... This is the least I can do..."  
Pearl looked at Marina with curious eyes, as Marina began to chatter on  
"Back in Octo Valley, my dad was a watchmaker. He had a small business, and made pocketwatches out of anything he scrounged up from our little area. They weren't high end stuff, but...they were always made with love. On the day I decided I was gonna leave Octo Valley, My folks caught on, and Dad closed the shop temporarily. He spent the month after in his workshop, working on something. Me and Mom had no idea what was going on. But, the day that I was breaking out, I had to run from some guards. I escaped at a time past curfew, so I had to deal with them as well. Just as they cornered me in an alleyway, my Dad rammed into one of them out of nowhere, quickly being piled on by the others, but not before throwing me something....it was that watch. I dunno what happened to him after that. Octavio had the place beef up security after my mistake, So I had a death wish if I wanted to go back the-"  
Before finishing her sentence, Marina felt Pearl put something into her hands: The Watch  
"Marina...I can't take this. It's your's, forever"  
"Well then...If it can't be yours...why can't it be ours?"  
"Huh?"  
"It'll be both of ours. Something that we both have. Just like our relationship, right?"  
"But...your dad-"  
"Trust me, my Dad would be so proud of me right now...that I have someone like you, Pearlie..."  
"Well...alright, I guess, it can be ours"  
"Yaaay. But uhh, can ya give it here one sec"  
Pearl gently passed Marina the watch, and she used the claw of her index finger to carve something on the top of the watch, just above the Clock itself. When she passed it back to Pearl, she saw the small carving. It said "P + M", which caused Pearl to snort out loud  
"That's so cheesy. You're such a dork, 'Rina"  
"Takes one to know one, Pearlie"  
"Hehe, yeah..."  
Pearl then went in for a hug, with Marina happily responding, but not before Pearl decided to press her lips on Marina's  
Instead of resisting, Marina decided to go with the flow, and embrace Pearl's affectionate signal. After it went down, both looked at each other, and started laughing warmly. The tension that was once in the room seemed to have dissapear, for now  
—————————————  
"'Rina, you sure this doesn't look big on me?"  
"It's fine, Pearlie, really"  
The duo giggled, trying on a pair of fan made Off the Hook T-Shirts. During their tour, they had gotten numerous gifts from their fanbase, taking this mellow time to open some up  
"Whatever...Aight Mar, you get to choose the next one"  
"Oh, ok then. How about...this one"  
Marina reaches to the backseat and pulls out a rather large rectangle, very long but not very wide. Tearing the box with her claws but being careful not to harm whatever was inside it, she opened it to reveal a Kensa Charger, even coming with a case to hold it in, coming with a strap.  
"Ooo. I've always been interested in trying out a charger"  
"Why, so you can reach me?"  
That comment made Marina bring out her loud, dork laugh, reserved only for Pearl. To most, it would be weird. But to Pearl, it really was Marina. Sure, she may be a massive dork, but she was a beautiful kind of dork that Pearl ended up getting herself lost in  
"And you call me the dork. You say the corniest things to me"  
"Hey, it's what I do"  
Pearl gave Marina a flash of her familiar Toothy grin, the feelings being similar to what pearl feels of Marina's laugh. They both loved each other, all their odd quirks included  
But Marina, in the car, started to feel a bit uncomfortable, fanning herself with her hand  
"Hey, i'm gonna open the door for a sec, k? It's getting stuffy in here"  
"Go ahead. I'll get the last one, then. We can save the rest for when we get back"  
"Sure"  
Marina opened the door, stepping outside and taking in the air. The one advantage of it being the middle of the night being that that air was cool and serene, making Marina feel a sense of relief from the compactness of the car. Meanwhile, Pearl reached for a smallish box, perfectly square  
As Pearl began to tear it open, she stopped at a weird reflex. Marina lowered her head down to meet with Pearl's eyes  
"Something up?"  
"I swear I just heard this thing make a funky kinda noise"  
"Hmm...Give it here, I could take a look"  
Marina took it from Pearl's hands, cutting it with her index finger. Problem was, another box was beneath it, but this one had a note on it  
A not very nice note  
"See you in hell Fags"  
Marina ripped it off, crumpled it up, and threw it off, not wanting to think about something like that again  
But as she took the note off, a sound came from inside  
A Familiar sound to any Turf War Veteran  
An Autobomb  
and a live one at that  
The duo both heard this, and Pearl dove forward to try and catch it from Marina, only to be met with Marina's great big hand on her chest, shoving her back into the car as the bomb went off  
A giant splash of ink then covered. Pearl opened her eyes, slightly dazed and hurt, reaching her hand up to her cheek, only to be met with a burning sensation, quickly withdrawing it. Then, it struck her  
MARINA  
Pearl hopped out of the car, trying to find Marina, but no cigar. She was nowhere to be seen where Pearl was looking. But that didn't mean Marina wasn't around  
"PEARL"  
"WAIT, MARINA?!? WHERE ARE YOU?!?"  
"PEARL, HELP ME"  
The short squid began to follow Marina's voice, to a gruesome place, the wall of the side of the rocky terrain. Not even hanging onto the edge, she was hanging onto the side. Problem was, Pearl could barely see her, but she knew Marina was there  
"...help..."  
"MARINA!! Here, gimme your hand"  
Pearl laid on her belly, and reached her arm down, where she could hear Marina. She started swiping her hand around, trying to find Marina's, so they could meet. When Pearl lowered hers down, she heard somewhat of a crackle noise, that slightly alarmed her  
"Mar, I can't see you, what do i do?"  
"Wait, hold on"  
In a moments notice, a teal light began eminating, revealed to be coming from Marina's Fingers, and tentacles. It was a habit that Marina was typically embarassed of, but desperate times call for desperate measures  
Now that Marina was visible, Pearl noticed something. Something that put her in agony. Marina was reaching one hand up, but the other's fingers were JAMMED straight into the rock of the terrain. Pearl even swears she could see Teal ink oozing out of them. It made Pearl think horrible things, how horrible it must feel for Marina, giving her drive to help her girlfriend  
Pearl moved herself a bit forward, to get more reach, and her and Marina just barely came into contact, hooking each others fingertips. Pearl tried to pull Marina up this way, but couldn't put enough strength into just her fingertips to pull Marina up. Marina slipped from Pearls grasp, falling slightly, kicking one of the rocks she was using as a foothold down into the dark abyss that terrified Pearl more than anything  
"NO!!!!" Pearl cried out, so loud that the people in the next town over could most likely hear it. Luckily, Marina was still hanging on, if just barely  
"Mar, I...I...W-what do I do?"  
Pearl was beginning to tear up, and Marina surveyed the area for ideas, before it dawned on her.  
"Here.." Marina gasped out, weakly. She reached for her back, pulling out the Kensa Charger from earlier, rising it up for Pearl to grab. Pearl grabbed the Ink Tank with both hands, beginning to pull it up, Marina using the claws in her free hand to climb, despite the agonising pain she felt  
Pearl's left hand travelled further and further down the gun as Marina was coming up, pulling more, but Marina looked at the gun and realised something  
Pearl was turning the ink tank pink  
Just as Marina's free hand reached the edge, she slipped, causing her to fall back, Pearl steeling her grip on the gun, grabbing Marina's tank top to help out. As Pearl's hand travelled down the gun even further, Marina's heart dropped as she came close to a certain place. And just like that, without knowing  
Pearl pulled the trigger, and sent Marina flying into the dark abyss  
The recoil of the charger caused Pearl to be flung back, sending the pocketwatch around her neck flying into the rocks near the edge  
It took Pearl a moment to realise it all, take in what had just happened. She breathed heavily, and shakily, drops of teal ink adourning her face, as she stares at her own hands, and slowly, with it's cracked clock  
The hands of the watch stopped moving  
—————————————  
4:58 - January 1st, 2021  
Every time Pearl revisits that memory, it sends chills down her spine. Back to the present day, here she remains. Visiting the old scene of the crime again, she got up from her kneeling stance, looking into that abyss, taking a deep breath in  
As she stepped closer and closer to the edge, she closed her eyes, beginning to bend forward  
However, in an event of Pathetic Fallacy, if you will, the grey clouds parted, and a sun shone beautifully, dispelling the clouds of darkness, causing Pearl to look again. She looked to the side of the edge, and still laying there, lifeless  
was the Pocketwatch  
Her eyebrows raised at the sight, but not for long, as she realised:  
Oh shit, i'm falling  
Squirming her feet, she managed to grab ahold of the edge while descending, taking another glance at the watch to give her the courage to climb up more, eventually being able to raise herself up to the surface, something Marina hadn't accomplished  
She dusted away the pebbles and debris that permiated the pocketwatch, picking it up in her stubby hands and taking a look at it, Marina's carving still remaining in tact  
At the sight of the carving, Pearl began to sniffle, tears streaming down her cheeks, eventually turning into uncontrolled breaths of guilt, covering her eyes with her hand, moving down to her mouth, going into full blown crying at the death of that woman  
The woman she met all those years ago on Mt. Nantai. The woman who helped her finally break into the music business. The woman who gave Pearl the determination to live on another day. The woman who gave Pearl life. The woman...  
who was the reason Pearl was still alive  
She held the pocket watch close to her chest, attempting to compose her breathing. When she did that, she wiped the tears off of her face. She knelt there, not really thinking anything at all. Just taking a moment to take everything in  
Opening her eyes, she looked out at the gourgeous sunset taht was rising at the distance. It was a thing of beauty, something Pearl had witnessed all those years ago... It gave her hope. Hope that one day, she could move on from her past mistakes, yet still cherish Marina in her heart  
And, as Pearl looked on, she didn't seem to notice on little detail  
The clock had began ticking, once again  
The End

**Author's Note:**

> Damn, this was a big ting. My first attempt at a One Shot, but I think it turned out pretty nice, all things considered. Took me around 3 days to finish. Hope y'all enjoy. Sorry for the feels, they come free with your fucking angst fic


End file.
